正文翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：大寫(xiě)的字母 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

qa
Scott Kerwin, lived in Japan (1992-1997)
There can be a variety of reasons.

原因可能有多種。

It’s a job that allows a native speaker without technical qualifications to work and live in Japan. Consequently only a small minority is doing it because they enjoy teaching. For the rest it’s a job, and not particularly a good one - especially if your heart is not in it.

這是個(gè)不需要相關(guān)技術(shù)資格認(rèn)證，只要是英語(yǔ)母語(yǔ)者就可在日本工作和生活的工作。因此，只有小部分人是因?yàn)闊釔?ài)教學(xué)才做這份工作的。但是對(duì)其他人來(lái)說(shuō)，這就是個(gè)不怎么樣的工作而已，特別是若你志不在此時(shí)。

Unless they teach privately, teachers also have little control over who or what they teach. For example, for some reason I connected and excelled working with middle-aged and older people, but I had to teach everyone my company told me to - which meant children from pre-K through high school.

除非他們是私下教學(xué)，否則老師們也沒(méi)法掌控其教學(xué)對(duì)象或教學(xué)內(nèi)容。舉個(gè)栗子，不知怎的，我很會(huì)教中年人或老年人，但我必須得去教公司要求我教學(xué)的對(duì)象——即從學(xué)前班到高中年齡階段的孩子。

The lessons became so rote and boring, and the number of lessons I had to teach daily was so high, that it was difficult to bring excitement into a class - especially when you had 8 classes a day at the eikaiwa I worked at.

課程內(nèi)容變得很枯燥無(wú)味滿是死記硬背，且我每天要上的課太多，以至于我很難調(diào)動(dòng)每堂課的積極性，特別是當(dāng)時(shí)在我工作的英語(yǔ)會(huì)話教室，我一天要上8節(jié)課。

Nuke It From Orbit: 22 Years and 1 Bankruptcy Later It’s Still In the Same Kyoto Office Building (source: author)

[從軌道上發(fā)射核彈：22年了，還曾破產(chǎn)過(guò)的日本語(yǔ)言培訓(xùn)學(xué)校駅前留學(xué)のNOVA（站前留學(xué)的NOVA）如今依然存在于同一京都辦公大樓中]

Honestly, unless you are at heart an ESL teacher, I don’t recommend the job. It’s not fair to your students, and it gets boring quite quickly - especially the way it is taught at the eikaiwa companies.

老實(shí)說(shuō)，除非你是真心想做個(gè)ESL（非母語(yǔ)英語(yǔ)課程）教師，否則我不建議你做這個(gè)工作。這樣既對(duì)你的學(xué)生不公平，而且你真的很快就會(huì)感到無(wú)聊——尤其是英語(yǔ)會(huì)話培訓(xùn)公司那樣的教學(xué)模式。

Thankfully it looks like Japan is expanding the offerings to foreign workers, but the jobs require Japanese skills. It’s a fair trade: you learn Japanese and they’ll let you do jobs that don’t involve teaching English. The demand for English is also down, so the fewer jobs can be snapped up by the minority that enjoys the job.

謝天謝地的是，日本開(kāi)始擴(kuò)大面向外籍雇工的就業(yè)崗位了，但這些崗位都要求應(yīng)聘者具有良好的日語(yǔ)溝通能力。這挺公平的：你日語(yǔ)學(xué)會(huì)了，他們就給你不用教英語(yǔ)的工作崗位。英語(yǔ)的需求量如今也在下降，所以真正喜愛(ài)英語(yǔ)教學(xué)這份工作的那些少數(shù)人就能拿到現(xiàn)下越來(lái)越少的教師崗位了。

Everybody wins.

這樣人人皆贏。

Yep - On the Tokyo Subway, 10/31/2019 (author)

上圖拍攝于2019年10月31日，東京某地鐵上。

評(píng)論翻譯
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 翻譯：大寫(xiě)的字母 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處

1. David W. Rudlin
I would add that everybody who comes here goes through a 6–12 month adjustment period once the initial excitement wears off. During that stage, everything about Japan is wrong, and everything about the home country better. This is high season for moaning, regardless of profession. Since many eikawa teachers tend to be short-term, and numerically they dominate the “management” of language schools, they set the tone for the company as a whole.

我想補(bǔ)充一下，一旦最初的興奮勁過(guò)后，來(lái)日本的人會(huì)有6-12個(gè)月的調(diào)整期。在此期間，人們會(huì)覺(jué)得日本的一切都是有問(wèn)題的，自己國(guó)家的任何事物都比日本好。這期間是人們抱怨的高峰期，不管是做啥職業(yè)的。因?yàn)楹芏嘤⒄Z(yǔ)會(huì)話教師的雇傭期都是短期的，且他們?cè)跀?shù)量上主導(dǎo)語(yǔ)言培訓(xùn)學(xué)校的“教學(xué)管理”，所以他們這一整體就給全公司定下了（什么都不做只會(huì)抱怨）的調(diào)調(diào)。

William Stonerock
Spot on! I''ve been in Tokyo for over 20 years. Part of my job (not an English school) is training new employees who tend to be new to Japan. The honeymoon is usually over by the time we hire them and I''ve had plenty leave around the 1 year mark. It tends to happen again around the 3 year mark, especially for women who can''t find a relationship.

說(shuō)到點(diǎn)上了！我在東京有20多年了。我工作（并不是在英語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)學(xué)校任職）的一部分內(nèi)容就是培訓(xùn)那些初到日本的新雇工。他們通常在聘用期期間新鮮勁兒就過(guò)了，我遇到過(guò)很多在一年左右就離開(kāi)日本的人。這種情況大多在3年左右會(huì)重現(xiàn)，特別是對(duì)那些找不到伴侶的女性來(lái)說(shuō)。

If I may be honest, not much is expected in the eikaiwa industry. In fact, some eikawa schools do not expect students to learn English. Their expectations are for Japanese persons to sit down with non Japanese persons in a close distance so the Japanese people will not be shocked to see foreigners. I do not know if this descxtion has upset you. I do not mean it.

請(qǐng)恕我直言，英語(yǔ)會(huì)話培訓(xùn)行業(yè)其實(shí)沒(méi)啥可期望的。事實(shí)上，有些英語(yǔ)會(huì)話培訓(xùn)學(xué)校根本不指望學(xué)生能學(xué)會(huì)英語(yǔ)。他們對(duì)日本人的期望是敢跟非日本人近距離坐在一起，不會(huì)看到個(gè)外國(guó)人就大驚小怪的。若我的語(yǔ)句讓你感到不適了，請(qǐng)見(jiàn)諒，這并非我的本意。

In the eikawa industry, what is practiced is perhaps not language education but something less than commendable. In an environment like this, good teachers are to be expelled.
Is there any future in an industry like this? No.
It is good that you have left the world like that.

在英語(yǔ)會(huì)話培訓(xùn)這個(gè)行業(yè)，被實(shí)踐進(jìn)行的或許并不是語(yǔ)言教育，而是某些不值得稱道的事物。在這樣的環(huán)境之下，優(yōu)秀的教師注定會(huì)離開(kāi)。這樣的行業(yè)有未來(lái)嗎？沒(méi)有。所以你離開(kāi)這樣的世界其實(shí)是件好事。

Scott Kerwin Original Author
You point out an important feature of eikaiwa: exposure to foreigners. There’s nothing wrong with Japanese paying to meet foreigners and have “l(fā)essons.” I suppose it’s not much different than the hostess industry where women are paid to converse with salarymen.
In that regard the more entertaining and, let’s face it, prettier one is the better one will do in the field. You have to see it for what it is.

你指出了英語(yǔ)會(huì)話培訓(xùn)的一重要特質(zhì)：即會(huì)與外國(guó)人接觸。日本人付錢(qián)與外國(guó)人接觸然后“上課”。我覺(jué)得吧，這跟工薪男付錢(qián)與女性聊天的女陪伴行業(yè)沒(méi)啥不同。在這一點(diǎn)上，讓我們認(rèn)清事實(shí)吧，越會(huì)招待人越漂亮的才能在這個(gè)行業(yè)做下去且做得更好。你得看清這一本質(zhì)。

Sean Gerow
I’ve lived in Japan about 12 years now. My friend always said he was amazed how many people spend 12 hours in an airplane then seem to expect everything to be just like home when they arrive.

我在日本大概有12年了。我朋友總是很驚訝說(shuō)，為什么有那么多人在坐了長(zhǎng)達(dá)12個(gè)小時(shí)的飛機(jī)來(lái)到日本后，卻還期待這里的一切事物都跟自個(gè)兒國(guó)家那邊一樣。

You get a lot of “Why do they do this thing, here that I’m not used to?” “Why don’t they have this thing that’s common in my country?”
There are a lot of legitimate complaints to be had, but most of he really vocal complainers, in my experience, are complaining that Japan isn’t exactly like their country or about fairly imaginary things.

你會(huì)聽(tīng)到很多“為什么他們這里做事的方式不是我熟悉的那種？”，“為什么他們這兒沒(méi)有我們國(guó)家那兒很普遍常見(jiàn)的東西？”等的抱怨。有很多抱怨屬于合情合理的，但就我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來(lái)看，大多數(shù)直言不諱的抱怨者們抱怨的都是日本跟他們的國(guó)家哪哪不一樣啊、或日本跟他們想象中的啥啥不一樣啊。

In the past five years I’ve noticed more people showing up with more knowledge and interest in Japanese pop culture and language then when I first arrived 12ish years ago and certainly when I was here the first time 20 years ago. 12 years ago it was more people on a short term adventure post-university and 20 years ago it was that and a lot of the guys who gave foreigners teaching English a bad name.
Japanese (and Asian in general) pop culture is much more mainstream then it was when I was young, I guess.

過(guò)去的這5年里，我注意到越來(lái)越多來(lái)日本的人比起我12年前左右初次在日本生活時(shí)更了解、對(duì)日本流行文化和語(yǔ)言更感興趣，也一定是比我20年前第一次去日本時(shí)更了解更感興趣日本。12年前，來(lái)日的人更多是大學(xué)后的一場(chǎng)短期冒險(xiǎn)，而20年前，便是這些來(lái)日的很多男人毀了教英語(yǔ)的外國(guó)人的形象留下了壞名聲。我覺(jué)得如今日本（以及亞洲的）流行文化比我年輕那會(huì)兒更加主流化了。

3. Katherine Heasley
Agreed. I’ve also known quite a few who came to Japan because they’re Japanophiles—from a distance. The reality sets in quickly. I spent a few months exhausted all the time because the added mental labor of living in a foreign country and being functionally illiterate was like a second job. Maybe a third. Fortunately, I liked being a teacher, so I was able to slog my way through it. The adjustment period is tough. I’ve done it twice—once in Japan, and once in China. Once the honeymoon’s over, you either like your job and the place you live or you don’t. If you don’t, it’s best to get out as soon as you can.

完全同意啊。我就認(rèn)識(shí)挺多因?yàn)榫嚯x產(chǎn)生美，沒(méi)切身體驗(yàn)過(guò)但很喜愛(ài)日本文化而來(lái)日的人。 現(xiàn)實(shí)的打擊來(lái)得很快。因?yàn)樵诋悋?guó)生活和已經(jīng)都快像是我第二份還是第三份工作的，要在腦內(nèi)思考轉(zhuǎn)換所見(jiàn)文字信息的大量腦力勞動(dòng)，我只幾個(gè)月人就疲憊不堪筋疲力盡了。萬(wàn)幸的是，我喜歡老師這個(gè)工作，所以我能堅(jiān)持下去，很是艱難地熬過(guò)去了。調(diào)整適應(yīng)期真是太艱苦了。我有過(guò)兩次這樣的經(jīng)歷——一次是在日本，另一次是在中國(guó)。一旦‘蜜月期’結(jié)束，你要么喜歡你的工作和所生活的地方，要么討厭。如果你不喜歡的話，最好就趕快離開(kāi)。

At that point I had given up trying to explain to them. One teacher got mad when I told her that “ hello how are you? I''m fine thank you” isnt right or natural. I LIVED IN CALIFORNIA FOR 3 YEARS!! I KNOW IT''S RIGHT!! 3 whole years, huh? Well I''ve been speaking the language for 37. I think i have a slightly better handle on what is or isn''t natural. One Elementary school I worked in expressed concern because if I asked “what color is it?” and the student answered “EETSU… BURAKKU!” Nope. That''s wrong. EEEEEEEHHHHHHHH??!! They figured out quickly that I was their ENGLISH teacher not their Japanglish teacher. Waito and red-do aren''t words in my language.

我那會(huì)兒已經(jīng)放棄解釋了。有個(gè)老師因?yàn)槲腋嬖V她“你好，你好嗎？我很好，謝謝?！边@個(gè)對(duì)話并不對(duì)或很不自然時(shí)生氣了。她說(shuō)，“我在加利佛尼亞生活了3年！！所以我知道這么說(shuō)沒(méi)錯(cuò)?。　?年是嗎？丫我說(shuō)英語(yǔ)都有37年了好伐。我想我更曉得這么說(shuō)自然與否好伐。我曾任職的一所小學(xué)讓我很是擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)楫?dāng)我問(wèn)“這是什么顏色？”時(shí)，學(xué)生的回答是，“素、素…嗨色的（是黑色的）！”“不對(duì)?！薄鞍““?？？？？?。　睂W(xué)生很快就明白過(guò)來(lái)，因?yàn)槲沂撬麄兊挠⒄Z(yǔ)老師，不是他們的日式英語(yǔ)老師。我所說(shuō)的語(yǔ)言里沒(méi)有‘外托（white）’和‘瑞多（red）’這樣的英語(yǔ)單詞。